Lifting Heavy on Weight Machines?

Cherry_T

Ya its fine... As long as you put in just as much effort as wwith free weights. One problem with machines however is they have a limited range of motion and leave your strength with weaknesses if you train will them too much..

infamousdrew76

If you have bad knees for the love of God or any equivalent word, don't squat in the Smith Machine, and don't do leg extension machine.

In lieu of going off on one of my usual rants, considering I think machines are WAAAAY more dangerous than free weights, I will just say that machines suck. The main reason is because you can move the weight regardless of whether or not you need to, and you will move it in a fixed position that is GUARANTEED not to be YOUR optimal path. The problem with the fitness industry is that none of this is a game, but the industry will have you believe that much of it is. Setting yourself up for bad movement patterns/habits/engrams could further exacerbate a problem or weakness. A muscle will always respond to resistance, but just making a muscle stronger is not always the best thing especially for someone who already has a problem with a joint.

And I don't believe in "something is better than nothing" But I'll touch on that later.

I'm with this guy....while I believe that resistance training is better than not doing it, I don't touch many machines. Most of them will move in a very linear motion, and for most lifts, that is not a natural motion!

Pookylou

I don't see why you couldn't. Weights are weights, whether they're machine assisted or not. So, I'd get a good program and follow it. Jamie Eason's Live Fit trainer use a lot of machine exercises, I think. You could always do some swaps for freeweight stuff as well.

Yeah Live Fit is very machine based, also is very body part focused so you could drop/alter days to fit around your injuries. I really enjoyed the program (and it is free on bodybuilding.com) but the going 6 days a week and adding a load of cardio made me give up after a while :laugh: Defo a good starter option to build up!

Dunkirk

Due to previous injuries, (horse riding accidents, motor bike (well motor scooter, but it did me some damage), and a car accident, I only do weights with my personal trainer. I wasn't activating correct muscles due to my body 'protecting' previously damaged muscle, etc. It is taking a while to develop correct form. Last year I did group training for 9 months, and I was never corrected on my form. Having a personal trainer has been well worth the money.

infamousdrew76

If you don't mind saying, what are you currently doing on the machines that you can't do with free weights or body weight excercises?

Some people might have some better alternatives for you!

artsycella

If you don't mind saying, what are you currently doing on the machines that you can't do with free weights or body weight excercises?

Some people might have some better alternatives for you!

You're right, thanks! I didn't want to hijack the thread to talk about my own personal limitations--I know what my limitation are, I've discussed them with my medical professionals and have gotten their advice on how to proceed (short version: use common sense--don't do things that hurt. Don't pretend they don't hurt). I know that, at least right now, free weights aren't a good option for me so I was just more interested in hearing opinions about the options that I do have. But a lot of people seem to want to provide me with specific advice on the best exercises I can do, so here goes:

I can't do squats or lunges with proper form because of my wonky knees. Basically any bending that requires me to bend and put significant pressure on my knees to maintain said form doesn't work well for me. From watching Youtube videos, at least, it seems like a lot of free weight compound movements involve that kind of bending. Also, any kind of hard impact like jumping, etc., doesn't do me any favors.

For my wrists, I have two different motions/positions that don't work well. The first is grasping anything with a lot of pressure between fingers and palm. For example, I can no longer use that hand to pump gas. I'm not sure if there are any weight exercises that require that kind of movement, but I thought I'd mention it for reference. I can grasp and hold things in my hand with no problem, as long as there isn't any resistance.

The second problem I have with my wrist is placing my hand perpendicular to my wrist and placing weight or pressure on that bend. In other words, push-ups are tough. A lot of body weight exercises rely on that form, which is another reason that weight machines are pretty attractive to me in place of a body weight regimen.

But I absolutely do welcome specific suggestions, especially any of those folks who think that weight machines would be hurting rather than helping me. I'm completely open to trying new things.

artsycella

One of the big benefits of being strong is that it makes your everyday life easier. You can bend over and pick up a sleeping child, put a heavy box away on a top shelf, push a wheelbarrow, carry a suitcase up a couple flights of stairs, ...

These movements are very similar to compound free weight lifts. One criticism of free weights is they don't develop the stabilizers as much as these free-form real-life movements. A wiggling 2 year old is a lot harder to handle than a nice, even barbell.

But an isolation machine at the gym is even worse than free weights. They often don't hit the stabilizers at all. They develop less functional strength. You might be able to leg press 150 pounds, but you throw your back out trying to help move a 100-pound sofa through a narrow door.

The machines are fine for what they are. But know the limitations.

Thanks! I definitely don't expect the machines to be perfect. Right now I don't have any wriggling two year olds around to lift on a regular basis, so I'm trying to do what I can when and where I can. I'm hoping that weight machines really are better than nothing, though it seems clear from the responses here that there are mixed feelings about that.

artsycella

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1015100-heavy-lifting-always-the-best

Thanks! This is great info and I will definitely check it out.

edit: you'll want to check with someone qualified, but my intuition is that trying to emulate 5x5 on machines might not be ideal.

Some people use straps for wrists, I don't know about that, seems like there's room for further unintended wonkiness. Maybe a brace would trick you into staying conscious of form.

Great idea. I have wrist braces coming out of my ears, but for some reason I hadn't thought about using one while exercising. I will give it a try!

antxoable

I do a combination of them, although i do strength training just 2 times a week and then classes. When i hit the gym floor i use machines for back muscles and sometimes a bit of legs, but arms i use free weights and i have started with squats...atm just 50 pounds but i hope get better soon! Couple of years ago i got into doing all body workouts with machines 4 times a week and i had good results but is true that squats with free weights work lot of muscles at the same time...

RGv2

Same basic concepts apply.

Low rep/high mass(volume) for size (hypertrophy)
Higher reps with a little less volume for definition and endurance.

:huh:

larsensue

bump....

aakaakaak

Lifting heavy on machines is fine. Go for it.

(I hear the leg extension machine is the devil, and you should never use it, but I've never had any pain ever from it. I don't use it anymore though. Why risk it?)

Just remember that when you switch to free weights (if you ever do) you'll need to drop your weight or you'll probably end up hurting yourself. Why? Because your stabilizer muscles won't be built up to support the weight your major muscle groups are pushing. You'll need to work on them.